Do you know the purpose of your church? Bro Hall preached from Matthew 16:18-19. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This was revelation from God the Father to Peter, he was a small stone but upon this revelation the church would be built. Jesus is the rock, the messiah, the power and provision, the power, and glory and the gates of hell shall not prevail. The gates are authority and no authority is stronger than that of Jesus. It should be encouraging to us ordinary people that Jesus could take a group of rough uneducated men who were afraid and ran away when Jesus was arrested and use them to start a church that would turn the world upside down. Peter who denied Christ after this revelation on the day of Pentecost just 50 later staggered out of the upper room with the others filled with the Holy Ghost, all speaking another language. Peter preached a message with boldness telling them they crucified the Son of God, a message that saved three thousand souls. God took a language even the disciples did not understand and make it understandable to all the people there, the people at first thinking they were drunk heard Peter tell them it was prophecy being fulfilled. What boldness and courage they now had, no more running and hiding but boldness to stand up for the Lord and the message he left them with. If Jesus had given them the keys before now they would not have known what to do with them. The Holy Ghost is our key to speak what needs to be spoken and seal up what needs not to be spoken. Life is not fair, a child of God has the advantage over the rest of the world, we have God leading our battle and we have authority over Satan. Why did Jesus leave such a dynamic church, why did he build the church you are in? Jesus says in Matthew 22:36-40 Matthew 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. The fivefold purpose of the church is Worship- No matter the ministry it must be an overflow of the time you spend with him. We must be sold out to God before we can be any good to others. Love- it is being abundantly devoted to him, putting him first before anything, the church exist to worship God, worship gets prayers answered, we need to re- prioritze our lives to put God first. When being tempted Jesus told Satan in Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Worship comes before service to him, when the children of God come together in worship the devils tremble. Even Satan was a worshipper before his fall and that’s why he tries to stop us from worship. Whatever you feel you have to do first before you take time to worship God has become your God for nothing can be put before him. Minister or Serve- The church exist to minister to people, we demonstrate serving to others by meeting their needs, healing their hurts. Reaching out in love is ministering to people, sometimes it’s so simple just putting your arm around those that feel unloved or hurting. That is what Jesus did he came when we were hurting and unlovable and put his arm around us. To offer help without love is no more than those without God does, they need to see Christ in us before they see our helping hand. Service starts with a vision to be like Jesus. Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: When the church stop to minister it ceases to be a church. A program to win people and make them feel better is of no use unless it teaches them to minister, that why God commanded of us in the great commission. Evangelism- It is the mission of the church, Jesus came to save the lost but he left it in our hands to carry on being his hands, feet and mouth to tell the world. We are ambassadors of Christ, as go we represent him. We should treat each person we meet as if we will face Jesus for letting them walk away unsaved for one day we might face the horror of having God reveal the ones we lost and could have reached. We have something better to offer the world than a cure for diseases for a person with a disease can go to heaven and live forever disease free but a lost soul will perish in hell forever. If we are trained in CPR we would never stand by and let someone die that we could help yet everyday God sends souls our way and we never say anything. Fellowship- Some churches have got to where this is all that’s important but fellowship is a ministry to uplift and encourage those that are weal, suffering, sick and struggling under a load. God meet for us to belong to be a part of others’ lives. Discipleship- To edify and educate people to the word of God, to help people learn how to be more like Christ. Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Christ in you perfects you to not just reach out to people but to teach them how to grow to maturity in Christ. Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: The saints are perfected to get them ready for the ministry, We are here to show the world the church, we are the church the world sees. Just reaching them is not enough we must disciple them and teach them. Discipleship strengthens us worship causes us to focus on our talents
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 00:11:51 +0000
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